Cooler Master Cosmos II: Large and in Charge
by Dustin Sklavos on January 23, 2012 3:20 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Cooler Master
- Full-Tower
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply.
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Rictorhell - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
I am a big fan of this site and I read the reviews and articles all of the time and I find them very informative and useful, but, I have a request.When a review is written, particularly about a certain smartphone or tablet, it is mentioned whether the device has an SD card slot and you always tend to differentiate between whether it is a “full-sized” SD slot or a “micro”SD slot. That is useful to know, but there are several actual types of SD cards available, each with a different maximum storage capacity, and you don't specify in your reviews which types of SD cards are actually supported by the device being reviewed and I think that is a bit of an oversight.
To the best of my knowledge, standard SD cards only have a maximum capacity of up to 2gb, while SDHC cards can go up to as high as 32gb, and SDXC cards, while only available right now in sizes up to 128gb, are supposed to theoretically be able to be manufactured in sizes up to 2tb.
There is a huge difference in size between 2gb, 32gb, and 128gb. Given that smartphones and tablets have substantial built in limits as far as storage capacity, I think it would be very helpful to know which type of SD card is supported by which device, if that is possible.
If I read two reviews about two different Android tablets and both reviews mention that both cards have a full-size SD card slot, as a user with a lot of media files, I'm going to be interested to know if one of those tablets can support SDXC cards while the other one cannot.
I consider that to be a major feature, to me, just as important as battery life. If you do reviews of tablets and smartphones, or even ultrabooks, and neglect to specify how much storage potential these devices have or do not have, you are making it very easy for the hardware manufacturers to simply put in second rate storage and format support, knowing that it will not be covered in reviews by sites like Anandech. Not only is this going to stunt the evolution of these devices but it's also going to mean less options for consumers.
Anyway, thank you for your time.
ExarKun333 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
Huh? Everything you said is not relevant to this review at all.Sladeofdark - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
if the USB front panel was facing up like the Cosmos S it would be PERFECT! But i still cant wait to purchase this case to replace my Cosmos S. It has all the improvements ive been wanting in a Chassis for YEARS.. serious cable management, and Serious consideration for hard drive placement. It is like they finally made a case that was not only about making the price point.sviola - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
Agree with you. I too have the Cosmos S, and I wish it would have some of the improvements here like the drive cage facing the side of the cage (but I prefer the red leds on the S model, a bit of the change from the blue led theme that seems to flood the industry).Solidstate89 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
After I've had my full of my current build in my Silverstone FT02B case, I'm definitely buying this case and building a behemoth of a system in it. Combined with Windows 8's Storage Spaces, you don't even need a separate Home Server anymore, and that's where all those drive bays will especially come in handy.Risforrocket - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
It's for a build with lots of drives, I agree.I have 4 drives in RAID 10 and am wanting 6 and then the SSD (or two) for the OS. That's 8 drives right there. Lol, I love this case.
Tetracycloide - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Or a build with a radiator. You loose all of the drive bays in the PSU chamber if you mount a radiator and some pumps down there. I'd argue that's what the chamber was designed for and the bay cages are just tact on so the space still looks useful if you're not water cooling (although it's still wasted space if you don't have all the drive slots filled).Bonesdad - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link
have to agree with some other posters here, this case, though top of the line functionally is big, ugly and fugly. Just my opinion, but no way would I ever own this. I don't think I could even be friends with anyone who owns this.whitehat2k9 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
The Maximus IV Gene is a Z68 board. Perhaps you meant the upcoming Rampage IV.ggathagan - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
Which doesn't change the overarching point that you can get a fully packed motherboard in the m-ATX form factor, diminishing the need for the full ATX size board in a large majority of situations.